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Intel to announce the next Ultra-mobile PC design

Intel is preparing to announce a new CPU and chipset specifically designed for …

Intel is planning to announce a new set of processors for the next generation of Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) on the 18th of April. Can a new CPU and some new design approaches unfold the sales disappointment that has been the UMPC/Origami initiative?

According to a leaked PowerPoint presentation available from HKEPC, the new UMPC reference design is code-named "McCaslin" and will feature a new CPU dubbed "Stealey." The CPU is based on a Dothan design using a 90nm fabrication process running at 600 or 800MHz with a 400MHz front-side bus and 512KB of onboard level 2 cache. The chip has a thermal design power of a mere 6W. It's also a relatively small chip, at only 975 square millimeters for both the CPU and accompanying chipset, less than half the size of the chips in the first UMPC designs. Intel GMA X3000 integrated graphics are included on the northbridge.

The new CPU is a low-power unit designed to compete with chips from Via such as the C7M, a popular CPU for many different tiny computing platforms. The Via chip runs faster at 1.5 GHz, but its unsophisticated architecture and tiny onboard cache mean that performance has been disappointing. Intel is hoping that it can do better in this market segment, while at the same time reviving the flagging UMPC form factor. According to a performance test (PDF format) commissioned by Intel, the Stealey chip outperforms the Via offering on a variety of benchmark tests, despite running at a much lower clock speed.

The problem with Origami

UMPC devices based around this new chip are expected to hit the market later this year, and Intel plans to follow McCaslin up in the second quarter of 2008 with the release of "Menlow," which will take the chip down to a 45nm design process. Intel has big plans for the UMPC market, which it projects will rise rapidly over the next few years, hitting 10 percent of the total PC market by 2010.

Such optimistic projections seem to fly in the face of the market acceptance of the UMPC thus far. Living in an uncomfortable, Newton-esque netherworld between mobile devices and ultralight laptops, the first batch of UMPCs were widely criticized for being too expensive and delivering poor battery life. With new, lower-power designs like McCaslin, Intel is hoping to address the second criticism: units using the chipset are expected to increase battery life from a disappointing two hours to a more reasonable five.

The shrinkage in the power consumption department isn't likely to be accompanied by shrinkage in the pricing department, however. Leaving aside those consumers who are hard pressed to find a use for the device, early adopters and gadget addicts have also had second thoughts about the UMPC concept, owing to its rather high cost. The Samsung Q1 debuted above the $1,000 mark, and we see little reason to expect better pricing this time around.

Despite these new chips from Intel and some new operating system features introduced by Microsoft early this year, it remains unlikely that the UMPC will ever see widespread success. As cool as these devices may look, they aren't really solving any particular problem that isn't addressed by either mobile devices or small laptops. Intel and Microsoft will have to figure out a new "must-have" application for UMPCs to turn things around, and then they'll have to find a way to manufacture it at a cost that will appeal to consumers.